Chapter 2
If there is one thing I've learned today, it's that fate loves messing up my life.
Why do I have to be his partner? Of all people, it just had to be me. I'm sure three quarters of the girls in this school would love to be in my position right now.
As soon as my name was called to be his partner, nearly all of the students heads turned around to look at me. I roll my eyes and pull out my phone, hoping to listen to music for the rest of the class.
"I have no plans for the rest of the class today, so you may get together with your partner and begin to discuss the plans for your project. If you have any questions don't be afraid to come up and ask me." I sigh and put my earbuds back in my backpack.
"So, Riley, I guess were partners then, huh." Spencer speaks up. He knows my name? I don't talk to anyone here, so I'm surprised he knows who I am.
"Um, yeah, I guess."
"Great, when do you want to meet up for it then?" As soon as his words process, I have to stop my jaw from dropping. The bad boy actually wants to work?
I must have made a face because he asks."What?"
I try to regain my composure as best as I can. "Nothing. You just don't peg me as someone who actually participates in assignments."
Spencer smirks. "Well, you don't peg me as a shy girl, so how come I rarely see you talking to people?"
I go stiff. How is he so observant? He can't figure out why I don't talk to people. If he does he will go and tell all of his preppy friends, and my secret will be all over school.
Spencer continues. "I guess we all got our secrets. Anyways, what days' work best for you?"
"Uh, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays usually work for me." I tell him. My dad works late on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at least that's what he claims, and every Saturday he goes out with his friends. If I'm home in time for his drunken self to walk through the door, I'll be fine.
"Sounds good, so tomorrow I will meet you by your seventh hour and we can go somewhere to watch the movies."
I almost nod but then I remember my schedule "I have open block 7th hour."
"Oh okay, I do too so we can just leave then."
We exchange numbers and talk a little bit about what movies we want to watch before the bell rings. So far Spencer seems pretty nice. I don't understand why everyone says otherwise. At least he talks to me. If he had just ignored me all class that would have been awkward.
As the bell rings, Spencer grabs his backpack from the side of his desk.
"Well, see you tomorrow, Angel." Spencer smirks and walks out the door.
Angel?
I'll just ask him about it tomorrow. I grab my things and walk to my next class, trigonometry. At least Ruby will be there, so it will be a little more bearable.
When I walk into my new class, I immediately notice Ruby sitting in the back. She knows me so well. Ruby and I first met after getting seated by each other in biology last year. It took about a month for us to start talking to each other because we are both very antisocial, but we really hit it off. Ruby and I have very sarcastic personalities, but we are different enough that we don't get bored of each other. She and Nate are the most important people in my life, and I couldn't ask for better friends.
"Hey, how did Modern America go?" Ruby asks me as I sit down next to her. She's going to die when she hears about it.
"Meh, alright. Mr. Jacobs already announced what our final for the class is though."
"Really? What is it?"
"We have to work with a partner and watch a bunch of movies throughout the semester. He says that we have to pick our favorite movie and make a poster about why it's our favorite. Oh, and you must make a poster about your partner explaining what you learned about them throughout the project.
Rose nods, grabbing her water bottle. "That doesn't sound too bad. Who is your partner?"
"Spencer Woods." Rose's eyes widen, and she nearly chokes on her water. I burst out laughing.
"Wait a second, THE Spencer Woods??" She exclaims. I nod while biting my lip.
"Oh Riley, I'm so sorry. Doing the project alone must suck."
I laugh and shake my head. "Actually, he was more controlling over the project than I was. I figured he would make me do all the work too, and when we started planning I confronted him about that, but he didn't answer." I decide to not tell her about the shy comment because it hasn't gotten out of hand, and I know it won't. I just have to keep my guard up.
Rose smiles. "Well dang, the bad boy caring about his grades, I never would have pictured that."
We make a few more jokes about my current situation before the trigonometry teacher walked in.
"Okay class, simmer down, we have work to do." The entire class groaned as the teacher smiled.
oooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo
The rest of the day went by slowly. Our school isn't that big, but its big enough that they have to divide the lunch hour into 3 different periods, so the cafeteria wouldn't be over crowded. Luckily, however, Nate, Ruby, and I all had the same one. We talked about our teachers, and which ones would snap the quickest after dealing with our junior year class. Ruby has her bets on Mr. Erikson, while Nate and mine are on Mr. Hageman. Ruby also brought up my Spencer situation, which I completely forgot to mention to Nate earlier. He wasn't as surprised as Ruby was because he knows that luck is never on my side. Also, Nate said that I can come to him anytime if there's was an issue with Spencer. He told me he'd take care of it, and I don't doubt him.
Nate and I became friends around the same time I started talking to Ruby, and he has been my rock through everything. Whenever there was an issue with my dad, Nate's always there for me if I need him to be. Last year it got bad at home for a couple of weeks, and Nate lost it. He threatened to leave school and beat the crap out of my dad. I managed to stop him before he was able to reach his car in the school parking lot, but it took a lot of convincing. Nate is a foster kid, and has dealt with several abusive households. So, he knows what it is like to be in my situation.
It is now 7th hour and I am spending it in the school's library doing the smaller assignments my teachers have given me as homework first.. They include get-to-know-you's, Reading and signing the syllabuses, and other small stuff. I have no time to do my homework at home because of my dad, so I do it during my free hour.
As soon as I finish writing what my favorite hobbies are, the chair next to me gets pulled out. I turn to look at who decided to sit next to me even though there are literally 7 open seats, and almost do a double take.
"Spencer?"
"Hey, Angel. Why are you still here? Don't you have a free period?"
"Okay first off, don't call me angel. Second, I don't have a car, so I usually have a friend take me home after school." That's a lie, I walk home, but I don't tell him that.
"Well, tell your friend that you have a ride today. I'll take you home."
I roll my eyes at his statement. "What makes you think I would want to ride with you?"
Spencer doesn't even hesitate.
"Because I'm awesome, duh. Now let's go."
I'm about to go, but then I think about it. It's a Monday, so there is a high chance that my dad is home, and if he sees someone taking me home, a guy nonetheless, he will flip.
"No, I have something to do after school. I should just catch a ride with Rose. "
Spencer raises his eyebrow. "Oh really, like what?"
"Well... I Have this.... Appointment...because I'm feeling sick.... Yeah." I tell him, but not very convincingly. I hate being on the spot while trying to come up with lies. Spencer gives me a once over. Damnit, I couldn't think of a better lie? What the heck is wrong with me. Of course, I don't look sick, I'm perfectly fine.
"Yep, you look like you're dying to me. Let's go." I sigh and put my things in my bag. Not like I have any other options at this point. I don't want to cause a scene. As soon as Spencer notices that I'm going to go with him he turns around and begins walking to the school exit.
"Why are you taking me home, anyway?" I ask him after thinking about it for a minute. We barely know each other.
"Well I know I wouldn't want to be here any longer than necessary. Besides if we are going to be stuck doing a project together for months, then we should at least try and get to know each other." I nod. He does have a point.
As we reach Spencer's car, I realize that it isn't a car at all.
"The bad boy has a bike, that's totally not stereotypical."
Spencer rolls his eyes and throws me the helmet. "Shut up and put that on."
I do as he says and tell him the address of my house. He looks confused at first, but then his face morphs into a smirk.
"What?" I ask him.
"We're neighbors."
My jaw drops, but then I try to recover as smoothly as possible. "Oh."
So smooth.
"Oh?" Spencer chuckles. Then it hits me.
"Wait, did you move into that tan house with the bay window over the summer?" I ask him. I know he hasn't always lived near me, and most of my neighbors are old retired people.
"Yep."
As we get closer to my house, I decide to speak up. "Hey Spencer, can you drop me off at your house?" I am practically screaming so that he can hear me over the wind.
"Sure, but why?"
"If my dad finds out I'm on a motorcycle, and with a boy, instead of Rose, he will kill me."
Spencer laughs. "Oh, you have one of those overprotective dads, don't you?"
"You have no idea."